Took me 3 evenings to fix a squeaky stair, turns out it was the nail not the wood

For like a week I kept walking past that one step on my landing, the third one from the top, and it would squeak every single time. I figured it was the wood rubbing against the stringer, so I bought some WD-40 and powdered graphite and went at it. Nope, made it worse actually. Then I pulled up the carpet pad and saw the real issue, a loose finish nail that had backed out half an inch, just sitting there vibrating every time I stepped. I hammered it back in with a finish nailer I borrowed from my neighbor, took maybe 20 minutes total. But I'd already burned two evenings pulling trim and sanding spots that didn't need it. Has anyone else spent way too long on something that ended up being a one tool fix?

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paige33128d ago

Squeaky stairs are the worst kind of mystery, they sound way worse than they actually are. I had a similar thing with a closet door that would stick, kept sanding the frame for days. Turns out a hinge screw was just stripped and needed a couple of turns with a longer screw. Twenty minutes of my life and a bunch of wasted elbow grease, but at least now I check the cheap stuff first.